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Consumerlab.com - Legit?

luchog

Neo-Post-Retro-Revivalist
luchog
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Does anyone have any knowledge of this company, or their legitimacy?

These guys apparently test dietary supplements and similar offerings to ensure that that they are what they're claimed to be. That is, they evaluate quality and consistency, but not efficacy. Products are supposedly evaluated for amount of actual active substance, contamination, and other potentially harmful adulterants.

While they don't evaluate claims per se, they do include information on the products, including negative information (ie, their page on echinacea supplements states that there is no verified evidence of its efficacy, and referrs to studies that demonstrate no benefit from use). I don't know if they link to any actual studies, since I haven't subscribed, and the free info is limited. It looks like they may contain more useful information in the subscription version.

http://www.consumerlab.com

It's a subscription service, which makes me think that they're more likely legit, and not simply an industry shill. But they also accept advertising, and have a paid certification program, which makes me a little leary.

If they are legit, then they should be a good resource for determining which supplement producers are actually worthwhile; that is, who actually can offer a consistently standardized product (something woefully lacking in the herbal supplement market).

ETA: It looks like they are most likely legit. In at least one case (herbal breast enhancement products) they state flat out that there is no evidece whatsoever that they products have any useful effect, and therefore have not bothered testing any of them.
 
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I have heard about them on a couple of NPR spots. They seem legit. What they do is the quality testing that is totally lacking in the entire supplements industry. They often find that the variance from what is on the package is high, and sometimes find things like that the supplement contains your weekly supply of lead.

But they seem to be legit with in their goals and methods
 
if you google 'consumerlab', google shows their site with googles additional consumerlab links, usually a good sign it's legit.
 
A question that occurred to me, vis a vis paid certification, is whether they guarantee to certify. There are many paid certification programs that specifically disclaim any liability for the results of the certification examination.

Later, after reviewing their stated policies, they state that the results of any testing paid for by anyone, in other words not random testing they've conducted on behalf of their members but testing specifically asked for by an entity, are proprietary to that entity. In other words, you won't hear about the ones that failed, but they expect that the ones that passed will crow about it. This seems relatively immune to abuse.
 
Schneibster said:
A question that occurred to me, vis a vis paid certification, is whether they guarantee to certify. There are many paid certification programs that specifically disclaim any liability for the results of the certification examination.

Later, after reviewing their stated policies, they state that the results of any testing paid for by anyone, in other words not random testing they've conducted on behalf of their members but testing specifically asked for by an entity, are proprietary to that entity. In other words, you won't hear about the ones that failed, but they expect that the ones that passed will crow about it. This seems relatively immune to abuse.
Click to expand...

That is not only what it does. It also goes out and buys a particular type of product that is not paid for by anyone else and tests them. So they might look at fish oil or what ever supplement one month and test a number of them and show the results. At least that was part of their business model when I heard the president on NPR a couple of times.

link

Interview with president of company Interestingly Hitchens was interviewed as well in the same program.
 
ConsumerLab (CL) is endorsed by sources I usually rely on:

The best objective herbal medicine information for less than $100 per year
http://scienceblogs.com/terrasig/2006/07/the_best_objective_herbal_medi.php
(The author has subsequently been less enthusiastic {as is warranted} about the German herb commission.)

They check for things you might not expect:
Have you had your lead today?
http://scienceblogs.com/terrasig/2007/01/have_you_had_your_lead_today.php

I have two reservations:
A) A randomly purchased sample of supplement that passes CL's scrutiny may not matter- depending on the quality control (QC) at the manufacturer. CL points out that different products from the same company vary in their QC; so why think any particular batch of a particular product has been properly certified by the manufacturer? QC relies on assay of each batch- not each product.
2) In the vast majority of cases, nobody knows what the active ingredient (if any) is; therefore, the amount of some arbitrarily chosen "characteristic" compound does not necessarily represent the actual dose of medicine in the herb. Moreover, even if they knew the active ingredient, the effective dose is unknown.

My opinion is that CL is a start. The fact remains that anything you can bottle can be sold as a "dietary supplement." Analysis means little (outside of detecting poisons) absent knowledge of active ingredients.

For more of the story see: Natural Causes by Dan Hurley (Broadway Books, 2006) http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Cause..._bbs_sr_1/104-4545266-1072752?ie=UTF8&s=books
 
JJM said:
2) In the vast majority of cases, nobody knows what the active ingredient (if any) is; therefore, the amount of some arbitrarily chosen "characteristic" compound does not necessarily represent the actual dose of medicine in the herb. Moreover, even if they knew the active ingredient, the effective dose is unknown.
Click to expand...

One of the things that made me believe that they were likely legit is that the did state just this for many products. In fact, there were whole classes of products that they refused to test simply because there was no evidence of any effect, or because the active substance was unknown and therefore there were no standards for testing. For others they state clearly that, although they can test for the various active ingredients, there is no reliable scientific study demonstrating that they have the claimed effect.

Definitely going to add this to my list of useful sites.
 
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